Presentation Transcript

1. River Valley Civilizations

   Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China
2. Why focus on Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, and China? Earliest large populations Development of monumental architecture Development of writing Social/economic relationships can be better understood Religious beliefs Political/legal systems become clearer
3. Mesopotamia “The Land between the Rivers” Migrants to the area increase--especially Semites (Akkadian, Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician) Sumer (in south) becomes population center 1stcities emerge, 4000 BCE Between 3200 and 2350 BCE, they evolve into city-states (control of surrounding region) Governments sponsor building projects and irrigation Attacks by others led to wall building and military development Kingships evolve w/ cooperation of noble families
4. The Course of Empire Sargon of Akkad (2370-2315 BCE) often considered “the” first emperor in world history. Seizes trade routes and natural resources Gradually empire weakens and collapses about 2000 BCE Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE) Centralizes the bureaucracy and regulates taxation Hammurabi’s Code: law of retribution and importance of social status Assyrians (northern Mesopotamia), about 1300-612 BCE Powerful army: professional officers (merit), chariots, archers, iron weapons Unpopular rule leads to rebellions; ends 612 BCE New Babylonian empire, 600-550 BCE Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BCE) Hanging gardens of palace shows wealth and luxury
5. Mesopotamian Society Mesopotamia had a stratified society in which kings and priests controlled much of the wealth. The three classes of Mesopotamian society were: (1) the free landowning class; (2) dependent farmers and artisans; (3) slaves:Slavery was not a fundamental part of the economy, and most slaves were prisoners of war. Some scholars believe that the development of agriculture brought about a decline in the status of women as men did the value-producing work of plowing and irrigation. Women had no political role, but they could own property, control their dowry, and engage in trade. The rise of an urban merchant class in the second millennium b.c.e. appears to have been accompanied by greater emphasis on male privilege and an attendant decline in women’s status.
6. Mesopotamian Religions The religion of Mesopotamia was an amalgam of Sumerian and later Semitic beliefs and deities. Mesopotamian deities were anthropomorphic, and each city had its own tutelary gods. Humans were regarded as servants of the gods. In temples, a complex, specialized hereditary priesthood served the gods as a servant serves a master. The temples themselves were walled compounds containing religions and functional buildings. The most visible part of the temple compound was the ziggurat. We have little knowledge of the beliefs and religious practices of common people. Evidence indicates a popular belief in magic and in the use of magic to influence the gods.
7. Mesopotamian Technology The Mesopotamian writing system (cuneiform) evolved from the use of pictures to represent the sounds of words or parts of words. The writing system was complex, required the use of hundreds of signs, and was a monopoly of the scribes. Cuneiform was developed to write Sumerian, but was later used to write Akkadian and other Semitic and non-Semitic languages. Cuneiform was used to write economic, political, legal, literary, religious, and scientific texts. Other technologies developed by the Mesopotamians included irrigation, transportation technologies (boats, barges, and the use of donkeys), bronze metallurgy, brickmaking, engineering, and pottery, including the use of the potter’s wheel. Military technology employed in Mesopotamia included paid, full-time soldiers, horses, the horse-drawn chariot, the bow and arrow, and siege machinery. Mesopotamians also used numbers (a base-60 system) and made advances in mathematics and astronomy.
8. Egypt and Nubia Egypt--lower 3rdof Nile River; Nubia--middle 3rdof Nile After 5000 BCE peoples cultivate gourds and watermelons, domesticate donkeys and cattle (from Sudan), and grow wheat and barley (from Mesopotamia) Agriculture easy in Egypt (due to Nile flooding) but more work in Nubia States begin to emerge by 4000 BCE, small kingdoms by 3300 BC
9. The Unification of Egypt Egypt, large and prosperous state by 3100 BCE Menes at Memphis unites Upper and Lower Egypt Pharaoh, absolute ruler and owns all land Archaic Period (3100-2660 BCE) and Old Kingdom (2660-2160 BCE) Great pyramids of Giza built during this period; Khufu the largest Violence between Egypt and Nubia (Egypt dominates from 3000-2400 BCE) Nubia later develops into Kingdom of Kush Interaction through diplomacy, Nubian mercenaries, and intermarriage
10. Turmoil and Empire Period of upheaval after Old Kingdom (2160-2040 BCE) Middle Kingdom (2040-1640 BCE) Nomadic horsemen, Hyksos, invade Egypt Using bronze weapons and chariots (Egypt does not have) Captures Memphis in 1674 BCE Causes revolts in Upper Egypt New Kingdom (1550-1070 BCE) Pharaoh gains power, huge army, large bureaucracy Building projects: temples, palaces, statues TuthmosisIII (1479-1425 BCE) built empire including Palestine, Syria, and Nubia Then Egypt falls into a long period of decline Egyptians driven out of Nubia in 1100 BCE Nubian Kingdom of Kush; capital is Napata King Kashta conquers Thebes (in Egypt) in 760 BCE Assyrians with iron weapons invade from the north After 6thcentury BCE series of foreign conquests
11. Communication Egypt was more rural than Mesopotamia. It did have cities, but since they have not been excavated, we know little about urban life in Egypt. Egypt regarded all foreigners as enemies, but its desert nomad neighbors posed no serious military threat. Egypt was generally more interested in acquiring resources than in acquiring territory; resources could often be acquired through trade. Egypt traded directly with the Levant and Nubia and indirectly with the land of Punt (probably part of modern Somalia). Items of trade included exports of papyrus, grain, and gold and imports of incense, Nubian gold, Lebanese cedar, and tropical African ivory, ebony, and animals.
12. Stratified Societies Social classes Egypt: peasants and slaves (agriculture), pharaoh, professional military and administrators Nubia: complex and hierarchical society (can tell from tombs) Patriarchy in both but women have more influence than in Mesopotamia Women act as regents, like female pharaoh Hatshepsut Nubia: women serve as queens, priestesses, and scribes
13. Early Writing in the Nile Valley Hieroglyphics found on monuments and papyrus by 3200 BCE Hieratic script, everyday writing 2600-600 BCE Demotic and Coptic scripts adapt Greek writing Scribes live very privileged lives Nubia adapts Egyptian writing until Meroitic in 5thcentury BCE
14. The Development of Organized Religious Traditions Principal gods: sun gods Amon and Re Brief period of monotheism: Aten Pharaoh Akhenaten’s idea of a new capital at Akhetaten Orders all other gods’ names chiseled out; their names die Mummification At 1stonly pharaohs are mummified (Old Kingdom) Later ruling classes and wealthy can afford it Eventually commoners have it too (Middle and New Kingdom) Cult of Osiris Brother Seth murders Osiris and scatters his body Wife Isis gathers him up and gods restore him to life in the underworld Becomes associated with Nile, crops, life/death, immortality Osiris judges the heart of the dead against the feather of truth 5. Nubians combine Egyptian religions with their own